Steve Tippins Ph.D.Helping doctoral students get their dissertation accepted, succeed in their careers, & change the world | Academic Career Advisor | Dissertation Chair & Founder, Beyond PhD Coaching | 35 + years of experience.

Always Remember This

2 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief advisory video, the speaker emphasizes that the five‑year doctoral clock starts when the dissertation is completed, not from the current date. Listeners are urged to plan their proposal and prospectus by counting backward from the anticipated final year, ensuring that the fifth year aligns with the dissertation deadline. The speaker notes that schools evaluate this timeline, making accurate planning essential. Finally, the video invites viewers to join a free dissertation‑help community for additional support.

Chapters

Always remember, especially your prospectus, but when you move into your proposal, that 5 years counts from when you finish your dissertation, not from where you are now. So if it's December of a year and you're starting something the next year, you're probably not going to finish in the next 3 weeks. So you have to think of the next year as the 5th year and go backwards from there. And, you know, that's just important. Schools look for that. If you're working on your prospectus and you're looking for help, you can join our free dissertation help community